# The Seven Madmen, The Surprise Los siete locos · Roberto Arlt · Part One Source: https://1732studios.com/books/arlt/la-sorpresa. Data: https://1732studios.com/books/arlt/la-sorpresa.json. Audio: https://audio.1732studios.com/arlt/.m4a. Al abrir la puerta de la gerencia, encristalada de vidrios japoneses, Erdosain quiso retroceder; comprendió que estaba perdido, pero ya era tarde. On opening the door of the manager's office, glazed with Japanese panes, Erdosain wanted to draw back; he understood he was lost, but it was already too late. > «Al» + infinitive: «Al» plus an infinitive means 'on / upon (doing something)': «al abrir la puerta» = 'on opening the door', 'as he opened the door'. It packs a whole clause of time into two words, and is one of the most common ways Spanish marks 'the moment when'. > Imperfect for a state: «estaba» (from «estar») and «era» (from «ser») are imperfect forms. The imperfect paints a continuous past condition — 'he was lost', 'it was late' — already in place, not a single finished action. Contrast «comprendió» ('he understood'), a preterite that names one completed moment. Lo esperaban el director, un hombre de baja estatura, morrudo, con cabeza de jabalí, pelo gris cortado a «lo Humberto I», y una mirada implacable filtrándose por sus pupilas grises como las de un pez: Gualdi, el contador, pequeño, flaco, meloso, de ojos escrutadores, y el subgerente, hijo del hombre de cabeza de jabalí, un guapo mozo de treinta años, con el cabello totalmente blanco, cínico en su aspecto, la voz áspera y mirada dura como la de su progenitor. Waiting for him were the director, a short man, thickset, with the head of a wild boar, gray hair cut "in the style of Umberto I", and an implacable gaze filtering through his gray pupils like a fish's: Gualdi, the accountant, small, thin, oily, with searching eyes, and the assistant manager, son of the man with the boar's head, a handsome fellow of thirty, his hair gone completely white, cynical in his look, his voice harsh and his stare hard like his father's. > Fronted verb, postponed subject: The sentence opens with the verb «esperaban» ('they were waiting') and the object pronoun «lo» ('him'), then lists the subjects afterward. Spanish freely puts the subject after the verb, especially to build up a long description; literally 'Awaited him the director, Gualdi, and the assistant manager…'. Estos tres personajes, el director inclinado sobre unas planillas, el subgerente recostado en una poltrona con la pierna balanceándose sobre el respaldar, y el señor Gualdi respetuosamente de pie junto al escritorio, no respondieron al saludo de Erdosain. These three figures — the director bent over some ledger sheets, the assistant manager reclining in an armchair with one leg swinging over its back, and Mr. Gualdi standing respectfully beside the desk — did not return Erdosain's greeting. Sólo el subgerente se limitó a levantar la cabeza: Only the assistant manager did no more than raise his head: > «limitarse a» + infinitive: The pronominal verb «limitarse a» means 'to do no more than / to confine oneself to' doing something. «Se limitó a levantar la cabeza» = 'he merely raised his head'; the construction quietly stresses how little he did. –Tenemos la denuncia de que usted es un estafador, que nos ha robado seiscientos pesos. "We have a report that you are a swindler, that you have robbed us of six hundred pesos." > «estafador»: An «estafador» is a swindler or con man — someone who commits «estafa», fraud. The charge frames Erdosain's crime in the blunt commercial language of the office. –Con siete centavos –agregó el señor Gualdi, a tiempo que pasaba un secante sobre la firma que en una planilla había rubricado el director. "And seven cents," added Mr. Gualdi, as he ran a blotter over the signature the director had just initialed on a sheet. > Pluperfect: «había» + participle: «había rubricado» is the pluperfect ('had signed/initialed'): the imperfect of «haber» plus a past participle. It marks an action finished before another past moment — the signature was already made when Gualdi blotted it. Entonces, éste, como haciendo un gran esfuerzo sobre su cuello de toro, alzó la vista. Then the latter, as if making a great effort over his bull's neck, raised his eyes. > «éste» = 'the latter': The demonstrative «éste» ('this one') points to the most recently mentioned person — here the director, not Gualdi — so it reads as 'the latter'. Spanish uses «éste / aquél» where English says 'the latter / the former'. Con los dedos trabados entre los ojales del chaleco, el director proyectaba una mirada sagaz, a través de los párpados entrecerrados, al tiempo que sin rencor examinaba el demacrado semblante de Erdosain, que permanecía impasible. With his fingers hooked through the buttonholes of his waistcoat, the director cast a shrewd glance through his half-closed eyelids, while without rancor he studied the haggard face of Erdosain, who stood impassive. –¿Por qué anda usted tan mal vestido? –interrogó. "Why do you go about so badly dressed?" he asked. > «andar» as 'to go around': Beyond 'to walk', «andar» often means 'to go about / to be (in some state)': «anda mal vestido» = 'he goes around badly dressed'. «usted» is the formal 'you', the cold register the bosses keep with Erdosain. –No gano nada como cobrador. "I earn nothing as a bill collector." > «cobrador»: A «cobrador» is a collector — the man sent door to door to «cobrar», to collect payments owed. It is Erdosain's lowly job, and the money he is accused of stealing passed through his hands in exactly this role. –¿Y el dinero que nos ha robado? "And the money you have stolen from us?" –Yo no he robado nada. "I have stolen nothing." > Emphatic subject «yo»: Spanish normally drops subject pronouns, so spelling out «yo» ('I') adds stress: 'I, for my part, have stolen nothing.' The double negative «no… nada» is standard and correct, not a grammar slip. Son mentiras. They are lies. –Entonces, ¿está en condiciones de rendir cuentas, usted? "Then are you in a position to render an account, you?" > «rendir cuentas»: «rendir cuentas» is the set phrase 'to render an account / to account for oneself' — literally and figuratively to show the books. Here it is both the bookkeeping demand and a veiled threat. –Si quieren, hoy mismo a mediodía. "If you like, this very midday." > «mismo» for emphasis: Tacked onto a time or place word, «mismo» means 'this very / right': «hoy mismo» = 'this very day', «aquí mismo» = 'right here'. It sharpens Erdosain's offer into 'today, no later'. La contestación lo salvó transitoriamente. The answer saved him for the moment. Los tres hombres se consultaron con la mirada, y, por último, el subgerente, encogiéndose de hombros, dijo bajo la aquiescencia del padre: The three men consulted one another with a look, and at last the assistant manager, shrugging his shoulders, said, with his father's assent: > Reciprocal «se»: The pronoun «se» here is reciprocal: «se consultaron con la mirada» = 'they consulted one another with a glance', each looking to the others. The same «se» form can be reflexive ('themselves') or reciprocal ('each other'); context decides. –No... tiene tiempo hasta mañana a las tres. "No... you have until three o'clock tomorrow." Tráigase las planillas y los recibos... Puede irse. Bring the ledger sheets and the receipts... You may go. > Formal command «tráigase»: «Tráigase» is a formal (usted) imperative of «traer», 'bring', with the pronoun «se» attached to it. Affirmative commands take pronouns on the end and add a written accent to keep the stress: «traiga» + «se» → «tráigase». Lo sorprendió tanto esa resolución que permaneció allí tristemente, de pie, mirándolos a los tres. That decision surprised him so much that he stayed there sadly, on his feet, looking at the three of them. > «tan / tanto... que»: «tanto... que» sets up 'so much... that': «lo sorprendió tanto... que permaneció allí» = 'it surprised him so much that he stayed there'. With an adjective the form is «tan» («tan triste que…»); with a verb it is «tanto». Sí, a los tres. Yes, the three of them. Al señor Gualdi, que tanto lo había humillado a pesar de ser un socialista; al subgerente, que con insolencia había detenido los ojos en su corbata deshilachada: al director, cuya tiesa cabeza de jabalí rapado se volvía a él, filtrando una mirada cínica y obscena a través de la raya gris de los párpados entrecerrados. Mr. Gualdi, who had humiliated him so, for all his being a socialist; the assistant manager, who had insolently fixed his eyes on his frayed necktie; the director, whose stiff, close-shaven boar's head turned toward him, filtering a cynical, obscene look through the gray slit of his half-closed eyelids. > «a pesar de» + infinitive: «a pesar de» means 'in spite of / despite', and it takes an infinitive when the subject is the same: «a pesar de ser un socialista» = 'despite being a socialist'. The jab is that Gualdi's politics did not soften his cruelty. > «cuyo / cuya» = 'whose': «cuya» is the relative 'whose', and it agrees with the thing possessed, not the owner: «el director, cuya cabeza…» = 'the director, whose head…', feminine because «cabeza» is feminine. Sin embargo, Erdosain no se movía de allí... Even so, Erdosain did not move from where he stood... > «sin embargo»: «sin embargo» is the fixed connector 'however / nevertheless'. It opens the long, anguished sentence in which Erdosain lingers, unable to leave or to speak. Quería decirles algo, no sabía cómo, pero algo que les diera a comprender a ellos toda la desdicha inmensa que pesaba sobre su vida; y permanecía así, de pie, triste, con el cubo negro de la caja de hierro ante los ojos, sintiendo que a medida que pasaban los minutos su espalda se arqueaba más, mientras que nerviosamente retorcía el ala de su sombrero negro, y la mirada se le hacía más huida y triste. He wanted to tell them something — he did not know how — but something that would make them grasp the whole immense misery weighing on his life; and he stood like that, on his feet, sad, with the black cube of the iron safe before his eyes, feeling his back arch a little more as the minutes passed, while he nervously twisted the brim of his black hat, and his gaze grew more furtive and more sorrowful. > Imperfect subjunctive: «diera» is the imperfect subjunctive of «dar». It follows «algo que…» ('something that…') because the thing is wished-for, not real — he wants to find something that *would* make them understand. The idiom «dar a comprender» is 'to give to understand', to make someone realize. > «a medida que»: «a medida que» means 'as / in proportion as' two things change together: «a medida que pasaban los minutos su espalda se arqueaba más» = 'as the minutes passed, his back arched more'. Both verbs are imperfect, painting the slow, simultaneous unfolding. Luego, bruscamente, preguntó. Then, abruptly, he asked. –¿Entonces, puedo irme? "So, may I go?" –Sí... "Yes..." –No... Entréguele los recibos a Suárez y mañana a las tres esté aquí, sin falta, con todo. "No... Hand the receipts over to Suárez and be here tomorrow at three, without fail, with everything." > Formal commands stacked up: Both «entréguele» ('hand over to him') and «esté» ('be') are usted imperatives — the bosses never drop the formal address even while threatening. «Entréguele» carries the indirect object «le» attached, with an accent added to hold the stress. –Sí... todo... –y volviéndose, salió sin saludar. "Yes... everything..." and turning, he went out without a word of farewell. > Pronominal «volverse»: «volverse» (with «se») here means 'to turn round', not 'to return'. The gerund «volviéndose» = 'turning around'; «salió sin saludar» = 'he left without saying goodbye', a small final humiliation he inflicts on no one but himself. Por la calle Chile bajó hasta Paseo Colón. Down Calle Chile he went as far as Paseo Colón. Sentíase invisiblemente acorralado. He felt himself invisibly cornered. > Pronoun on the end: «sentíase»: «Sentíase» is «se sentía» ('he felt himself') with the pronoun attached to the end of the verb — an older, literary placement common in Arlt's prose. The plain modern order would be «se sentía acorralado». El sol descubría los asquerosos interiores de la calle en declive. The sun laid bare the loathsome insides of the sloping street. Distintos pensamientos bullían en él, tan desemejantes, que el trabajo de clasificarlos le hubiera ocupado muchas horas. Different thoughts seethed in him, so unlike one another that the work of sorting them would have taken him many hours. > Conditional perfect with subjunctive: «le hubiera ocupado muchas horas» = 'it would have taken him many hours'. The «-ra» pluperfect subjunctive «hubiera ocupado» commonly stands in for the conditional perfect in unreal, never-attempted situations — he never actually tries to sort the thoughts. Más tarde recordó que ni por un instante se le había ocurrido preguntarse quién podría haberlo denunciado. Later he recalled that not for an instant had it occurred to him to wonder who could have denounced him. > «ocurrírsele a alguien»: The idiom «ocurrírsele algo a alguien» means 'for something to occur to someone'. The «se» is the inherent pronominal particle that converts «ocurrir» into «ocurrírsele», a verb of involuntary mental occurrence (not reflexive, and not impersonal). The grammatical subject of the clause is the infinitive phrase; the «le» marks the dative experiencer — the person to whom the thought occurs without volition or intent: «no se le había ocurrido» = 'it had not occurred to him', as if the thought, not the man, were the actor. --- Source text: public domain (Roberto Arlt, d. 1942). English translation: © 2026 1732 Studios, LLC — original draft, pending editorial review. 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